It didn't take Johnny Manziel long to put his stamp on Saturday's game against Rice.

His third TD pass of the second half -- and the game -- a 9-yarder to Mike Evans was followed with a flag on Manziel for an unsportmanlike conduct penalty, when he pointed toward the scoreboard in taunting the Owls. But by that point, the Aggies held a 52-28 advantage and would go on to win, 52-31.

Manziel completed 7 of 9 passes for 103 yards and three scores and gained 18 yards on the ground -- he was sacked twice -- on six carries.

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner will have a full game next week at home against Sam Houston State before top-ranked Alabama comes to College Station on Sept. 14 in the game everyone's pointed to since the Aggies stunned the Crimson Tide last season in Tuscaloosa.

Manziel was not available to the media after the game, but Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin talked about his star quarterback's return.

"A foolish penalty at the end," Sumlin told reporters. "No matter what the comments are or what. He's going to face that every week with the people chirping. That's not OK, and obviously I addressed that on the sideline right after the play. That's something he's going to have to deal with every week."

With his team leading 28-21 after the opening half against Rice, Manziel made his much-anticipated return to the field to start the second half.

After the Aggies intercepted a Rice pass on the first possession of the second half, A&M took over on their own 40 with 14:40 remaining in the third quarter.

Manziel took off for 11 yards and a first down on his first play. He picked up seven yards on a run on his second play and then overthrew a receiver in the end zone on second down. On third down he was sacked for a 5-yard loss and the Aggies converted a 44-yard field goal to extend their lead to 31-21.

The Aggies intercepted another pass on Rice's second possession of the second half and took over on the Rice 34 with 10:59 remaining. After two running plays, Manziel scrambled for eight yards and a first down on third-and-7 and then found Mike Evans over the middle around the 10. Evans slipped one tackle and raced to the end zone for a 23-yard score and Manziel's first TD pass of the season. Following the touchdown, Maniel seemed to make a "Show me the money" gesture, clearly mocking the NCAA's fruitless investigation into his alleged autographs for profit sceme.

He later tossed an 18-yard TD pass to Ben Malena and the 9-yarder to Evans.

The Aggies struggled early against Rice, but it wasn't because of their offiense. Rice led 14-7 after the opening quarter. But A&M scored three consecutive touchdowns on a 1-yard run by Tra Carson, a 72-yard TD pass from Luke Joeckel to freshman Ricky Seals-Jones and a 2-yard Carson run to pull ahead 28-14. A&M cornerback Deshazor Everett, who sat out the first half due to suspension, was ejected from the game with 3:40 remaining in the game due to targeting. Rice outgained A&M, 508 to 494.

Manziel, last year's Heisman winner, spent the first half on the sideline as part of a one-half suspension for an inadvertent NCAA rules violation. The NCAA questioned Manziel for nearly six hours last Sunday about whether or not he accepted payment for the thousands of autographs he signed for brokers last December and January.

The NCAA concluded that he did not receive payment and closed its case.